[i]I’m glad you’re at least self-aware.[/i] Brendon shrugged, suddenly stretching out lithely in the soft caress of the sunlight; his shirt rode up a little, a little expanse of skin so typically exposed at his waist, the lean muscle he possessed pulled tight as he extended himself, still stiff despite having slept for less than six hours. The glow of the late morning illuminated his skin, and even the faint scatter of freckles that dusted his face were more prominent. Brendon really was gorgeous. His ever-easy smile was bright and charming, and so were his eyes- deep in colour, so clearly warm, just like the sun that Ryan so loyally compared him to. Out of the blue, some rather pretentious lines of Shakespeare he didn’t know that he knew crossed his mind- [i]If I could write the beauty of your eyes, and in fresh numbers number all your graces, the age to come would say, “this poet lies— such heavenly touches ne'er touched earthly faces.”[/i]- and he almost rolled his eyes at himself when he finally relaxed his muscles, remembering absently that it had definitely been Ryan who taught him that and Ryan had definitely been enamoured by the words similarly to how he was enamoured by Brendon. And it was vice versa. They were so overdramatic and sweet, and that was proven by how Brendon ended up with a warm swell of strong affection in his heart when his boyfriend looked like a whole hot mess.

He’d almost forgotten that Ryan had even spoken, he was so distracted in his untimely romantic mental imagery and pretentious literature. [b]”...When am I not self aware?”[/b] He finally responded, finally snapping out of his daydream and almost flipping his mood on its head, from sweet and serene to very irritating and an intentional nuisance. It was one of his many talents- unpredictability. [i]Sure you were. Cause i’m so desirable right now.[/i] Brendon raised an eyebrow, eyeing his boyfriend doubtfully. Sure, he wasn’t looking his best, but honestly Brendon hadn’t really thought about that. He shrugged offhandedly. [b]”When has that ever stopped me?”[/b] He offered, before growing bored and checking his phone, dying to let Gabe chew Ryan out. He considered calling them for a second, but honestly, if he did, the call would last for hours (Brendon was too afraid to actually hang up on them, lest they take revenge in some typical Carrasco-esque way).

Abandoning the idea, he instead grew frustrated with Ryan’s persistent negative attitude towards alcohol and drinking; though he didn’t blame Ryan for having a bad perception of it due to arguably very traumatic experiences with it both when he was younger and into adulthood (the latter was in fact because of Brendon, what could he even say?), he had hoped that his 21st would loosen him up a little, allow him to have fun and actually enjoy drinking without constantly being weighted by worry for Brendon or whole horrible flashbacks of his father. He hadn’t expected a miracle- maybe an improvement of some small magnitude- but now Brendon was regretting getting his hopes up. He expressed his irritation, and Ryan met his eyes immediately. Brendon was then uncomfortable, but didn’t break eye contact, just rose his eyebrows minutely, almost as if a challenge. This conversation had all the potential and ingredients to take a turn for the worse.

Luckily, it didn’t, because Brendon started complaining about his 21st party, one he already expected to be boring. [i]You underestimate my ability to throw an alcohol-free party. Not to spoil anything, but you should totally expect a fuckton of weed to make up for the loss.[/i] That got his attention. Brendon grinned immediately, reminiscing on every birthday party/celebration Ryan had thrown him or organised in the past; all involved almost excessive amounts of weed, sugar, and now, karaoke so Brendon could destroy everybody while both stoned and riding a sugar high. [b]”It’s gonna be my 21st, so you better outdo yourself this time,”[/b] He warned, as he was walking towards the bedroom door to go and get the medicine Ryan had requested, leaving his phone on his dresser face-up, hoping that Ryan, when he moved over, would see how pissed Gabe was. Honestly, Brendon was convinced that they didn’t even care- they still got to get wasted, and that was usually good enough for them. From what Brendon heard.

He came back obediently with the aspirin and the water, then waited respectfully until Ryan had chugged the water and taken the medicine before climbing onto him again, evidently not willing to give up his comfortable position. It wasn’t just about that, though- he was still feeling rather devilish, so to speak, and nothing was funnier than catching Ryan off guard- so that’s just what he did, same old trick every time, still succeeded in making his breath hitch like an idiot. [i]Sure, sure, you’re right.[/i] Brendon laughed almost affectionately, surprised by lack of argument by Ryan, but he was also on a roll, so he pressed forwards again as his boyfriend dragged him into a second kiss. He no longer tasted like alcohol, Brendon noted, pulling back as much as he could with Ryan gripping onto him like his life depended on it. This was new behaviour- desperation, almost, the kind of clingy reaction usually reserved for Brendon. 

[i]I'm having a moment of weakness and you're being like that. I have good cause to be a whiny bitch.[/i] [b]”I’ll give you that, babe,”[/b] He murmured, but he had his eyes narrowed- this really usually was the other way round, and Brendon was suspicious. [b]”What just happened?”[/b] He asked, dead serious, though Ryan’s dizzy smile was infectious. [i]Like, apart from my baby hangover, I mean.[/i] It really was a baby hangover, too- Brendon had seen and experienced much, much worse. Anyway, that wasn’t important right now- Brendon had more pressing issues to cover. [b]”So, did drinking turn you into a bottom, or what?”[/b] He asked outright, pulling back to regard his boyfriend carefully, devising a plan to quickly get it back to how he preferred it. [b]”Joking. Hey, your 21st would have been so much more fun if I was there. There was this one time at this shitty dive bar, I met this guy called Josh and he made a bet with me, who can chug a beer the fastest- he fuckin’ destroyed me, can you believe it?”[/b] Brendon paused for effect. [b]”He made me wear high heels as penalty for losing. Also, he was hot. 99% sure he took me home, it’s all a bit foggy.”[/b]